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Bankruptcy Capitals of America: Data Reveals Where US Small Businesses Are Closing Fastest

Kimberly Green | 2026-05-13

Small businesses drive local economies and define the character of the neighborhoods they sit in. But closure rates vary sharply from one city to the next. In some metros, small businesses are shutting their doors at rates several times higher than in others.

For business owners weighing where to launch, lenders pricing risk, and local economies tracking their own resilience, knowing which markets are seeing the steepest closure pressure offers a clearer picture of where the squeeze is hitting hardest.

Sam's List analyzed federal small business bankruptcy data across the 100 largest US metropolitan areas to identify where small businesses are shutting down at the highest rates.

Key Findings

The median small business bankruptcy rate across America's 100 largest metropolitan areas was 1.85 per 1,000 small businesses. The highest rate ran more than eight times the lowest, with rates climbing as high as 4.42 in the leading metro and falling as low as 0.53 at the bottom of the ranking.
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, recorded the highest small business bankruptcy rate in the country at 4.42 per 1,000 small businesses, more than double the national median. The metro logged 638 bankruptcy filings against a base of 144,436 small businesses.
Texas metros claimed 4 of the top 10 spots in the ranking: Dallas-Fort Worth (1st at 4.42), San Antonio (2nd at 4.37), El Paso (4th at 3.88), and Austin (7th at 3.18). Houston (11th at 3.04) sat just outside.
North Carolina dominated the bottom of the ranking with four metros in the lowest 10. Greensboro-High Point (93rd at 1.04), Durham-Chapel Hill (96th at 0.90), Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia (97th at 0.86), and Winston-Salem (99th at 0.72) all sat well below the national median. Charleston, SC, sat 98th (0.79), while Syracuse, NY, anchored the bottom at 0.53 per 1,000, less than a third of the median.

The 10 Worst US Metros for Small Business Bankruptcies

Dallas-Fort Worth led the country with 4.42 small business bankruptcies per 1,000 small businesses, more than double the national median. The metro recorded 638 filings against a base of 144,436 small businesses.

San Antonio came in second at 4.37, separated from Dallas-Fort Worth by a hair. Bakersfield rounded out the top three at 4.05, the only metro outside Texas to clear a rate of 4.0 per 1,000 small businesses.

El Paso (3.88), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (3.36), Nashville (3.33), Austin (3.18), Oklahoma City (3.14), Atlanta (3.14), and Fresno (3.05) completed the top ten.

Rank	Metro Area	Small Businesses	Bankruptcy Filings	Filings per 1,000
1	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	144,436	638	4.42
2	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	37,773	165	4.37
3	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	11,113	45	4.05
4	El Paso, TX	11,607	45	3.88
5	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	70,918	238	3.36
6	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	36,928	123	3.33
7	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	50,998	162	3.18
8	Oklahoma City, OK	29,901	94	3.14
9	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	130,253	409	3.14
10	Fresno, CA	17,060	52	3.05

The 10 US Metros With the Lowest Small Business Bankruptcy Rates

At the other end of the ranking, the bottom ten metros all posted rates below 1.1 per 1,000 small businesses, less than 60 percent of the national median.

Syracuse, New York, anchored the bottom of the list at 0.53 filings per 1,000 small businesses, recording just six bankruptcies across more than 11,000 small businesses. Winston-Salem, Charleston, Durham-Chapel Hill, and Charlotte all clustered close behind. Four of the bottom ten metros sit in North Carolina, the strongest single-state showing at the lower end of the ranking.

Rank	Metro Area	Small Businesses	Bankruptcy Filings	Filings per 1,000
100	Syracuse, NY	11,385	6	0.53
99	Winston-Salem, NC	11,118	8	0.72
98	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	17,613	14	0.79
97	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	54,602	47	0.86
96	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	11,104	10	0.90
95	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	16,516	15	0.91
94	Madison, WI	13,665	13	0.95
93	Greensboro-High Point, NC	14,408	15	1.04
92	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	10,332	11	1.06
91	Richmond, VA	25,816	28	1.08

Full Rankings: 100 Largest US Metros by Small Business Bankruptcy Rate

Rank	Metro Area	Small Businesses	Bankruptcy Filings	Filings per 1,000
1	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	144,436	638	4.42
2	San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	37,773	165	4.37
3	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	11,113	45	4.05
4	El Paso, TX	11,607	45	3.88
5	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	70,918	238	3.36
6	Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN	36,928	123	3.33
7	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	50,998	162	3.18
8	Oklahoma City, OK	29,901	94	3.14
9	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	130,253	409	3.14
10	Fresno, CA	17,060	52	3.05
11	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	124,526	378	3.04
12	Birmingham, AL	20,301	61	3.00
13	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL	13,869	41	2.96
14	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	41,790	123	2.94
15	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	73,970	217	2.93
16	Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL	10,751	30	2.79
17	Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	86,408	241	2.79
18	Tulsa, OK	19,714	54	2.74
19	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	19,111	52	2.72
20	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	353,489	958	2.71
21	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	12,640	34	2.69
22	Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	61,312	164	2.67
23	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	44,455	118	2.65
24	Akron, OH	12,435	33	2.65
25	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	76,933	202	2.63
26	Colorado Springs, CO	15,733	41	2.61
27	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	203,014	526	2.59
28	Jackson, MS	10,932	28	2.56
29	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	10,370	25	2.41
30	North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL	22,487	54	2.40
31	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	18,266	43	2.35
32	Jacksonville, FL	33,852	79	2.33
33	Toledo, OH	9,521	22	2.31
34	Albuquerque, NM	14,832	34	2.29
35	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	72,675	166	2.28
36	Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	14,614	33	2.26
37	Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL	18,400	41	2.23
38	Knoxville, TN	14,137	31	2.19
39	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	54,704	118	2.16
40	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	35,298	75	2.12
41	Stockton-Lodi, CA	10,465	22	2.10
42	New Haven, CT	10,991	23	2.10
43	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	489,775	1,016	2.07
44	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	191,000	391	2.05
45	Columbus, OH	33,283	68	2.04
46	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	11,755	24	2.04
47	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	124,876	254	2.03
48	Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN	37,277	73	1.96
49	Chattanooga, TN-GA	9,109	17	1.87
50	Boise City, ID	19,445	36	1.85
51	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	59,283	109	1.84
52	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	40,786	74	1.81
53	Cleveland, OH	39,931	72	1.80
54	Worcester, MA	15,202	27	1.78
55	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	78,596	139	1.77
56	Pittsburgh, PA	45,870	80	1.74
57	Kansas City, MO-KS	42,392	73	1.72
58	Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	12,109	20	1.65
59	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	21,238	35	1.65
60	Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC	17,635	29	1.64
61	Columbia, SC	13,988	23	1.64
62	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	8,647	14	1.62
63	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	109,787	176	1.60
64	Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI	29,778	47	1.58
65	Rochester, NY	18,983	29	1.53
66	Wichita, KS	11,256	17	1.51
67	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	89,932	134	1.49
68	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	19,636	29	1.48
69	Urban Honolulu, HI	16,005	23	1.44
70	Ogden, UT	12,718	18	1.42
71	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	21,689	30	1.40
72	Omaha, NE-IA	19,903	27	1.36
73	Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY	20,996	28	1.33
74	Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT	15,016	20	1.33
75	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	122,700	163	1.33
76	Raleigh-Cary, NC	30,150	40	1.33
77	Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI	21,210	28	1.32
78	Salt Lake City-Murray, UT	29,075	38	1.31
79	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	34,550	45	1.30
80	Baton Rouge, LA	15,261	19	1.25
81	Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	14,528	18	1.24
82	McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX	9,942	12	1.21
83	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	15,165	18	1.19
84	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	106,552	126	1.18
85	Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	14,151	16	1.13
86	Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	23,086	26	1.13
87	St. Louis, MO-IL	54,436	60	1.10
88	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	30,225	33	1.09
89	Tucson, AZ	15,580	17	1.09
90	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	81,725	89	1.09
91	Richmond, VA	25,816	28	1.08
92	Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA	10,332	11	1.06
93	Greensboro-High Point, NC	14,408	15	1.04
94	Madison, WI	13,665	13	0.95
95	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	16,516	15	0.91
96	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	11,104	10	0.90
97	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	54,602	47	0.86
98	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	17,613	14	0.79
99	Winston-Salem, NC	11,118	8	0.72
100	Syracuse, NY	11,385	6	0.53

Methodology

This study uses data from the U.S. Courts Bankruptcy Filings by County report and the U.S. Census Bureau's Statistics of U.S. Businesses. For each of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, Sam's List calculated Chapter 7 small business bankruptcy filings per 1,000 small businesses (businesses with fewer than 500 employees) over the 12 months ending March 31, 2025. Metros were ranked from the highest to the lowest bankruptcy rate.